Here’s a guy with an Ivy League degree who allegedly graduated tops in his class from the University of Pennsylvania. A guy who has amassed a fortune of more than $4 billion making smart and savvy business deals. A guy who has risen to the top of almost every industry he’s tackled, whether it’s sports, entertainment, media, or real estate.

In short, Donald Trump is a very, very intelligent man. His business record, academic achievements, and personal accomplishments indicate that.

And yet, Donald Trump the presidential candidate has a tendency of making very, very stupid statements. Statements that make the pundits wonder if he’s read the Constitution. Statements that make his closest friends question his integrity. Statements that make many of us — even his GOP supporters — wonder if Donald Trump graduated tops in his class from any school, let alone an Ivy League one.

This all makes me wonder: Is Donald Trump really as stupid as he sometimes sounds, or is he merely pretending to be stupid, because he believes the American people will be stupid enough to fall for it?

The answer, I believe, is the latter.

Donald Trump announced he was running for president on June 16th, 2015. Until then, Trump was viewed by many as an elitist. He’s rich. He’s from New York. He came from a wealthy family. He graduated from Penn, he travels in private jets, he owns his own hotels, and he’s friends with everyone from professional athletes and actors to the British royal family.

It doesn’t get much more elite than that.

But when you’re running for president of the United States, it doesn’t look good to look like an elitist. Especially when you’re running as a Republican. So to convince Americans that he was not an elitist — that he was, in fact, just like us! — Donald Trump came up with a plan: To prove to America that he, too, can be a dumb, ignorant racist. Just as dumb and ignorant and racist as the rest of us!

On the day he announced his candidacy, he said most Mexicans coming to the United States are rapists. He followed that up by saying he would ban all Syrian refugees from entering the United States. He followed that up by announcing that he would ban all Muslims from entering the United States. In between, he has made insulting remarks about almost anyone you can think of: military veterans, POW’s, Asians, people with disabilities, women, menstruating women, women who look like Carly Fiorina, men who look like Rand Paul.

These, of course, are all very dumb statements. Racist statements. Sexist statements. Xenophobic statements. Ignorant statements. But you know what? They’re also statements that have made Donald Trump a very, VERY popular candidate with American voters! So popular, in fact, that CNN has Trump leading the GOP field by twenty points in its latest poll.

What does this say about Donald Trump? Not much, aside from what we already knew: Donald Trump is a very intelligent man. He knows how to push Americans’ buttons. He knows how to tap into our worst fears and deepest prejudices. He knows that in a crowded field of GOP candidates, he has to go big or go home — even if that means coming off like an ignorant, racist bigot who makes deliberately false, misleading, and insulting statements.

What does it say about America? A lot. It says we’re becoming an increasingly stupid nation, stupider by the day. Sorry folks, but that’s the cold, hard truth. If you think Donald Trump will ban all Muslims from entering the United States — if you think it’s even legal to do that — you’re not a patriot who’s concerned about homeland security. You’re just stupid. If you think most Mexicans coming to the United States are rapists, you’re stupid. If you think Megyn Kelly was on her period the night of the GOP debate, you’re stupid (and sexist).

In short, if you’re stupid enough to believe that a man with an Ivy League degree thinks it’s legal and constitutional to create Muslim databases, then yup, you’re stupid. And if you’re stupid enough to not realize that this is all by design — that Donald Trump is playing you for the fools he believes you are — then you’re stupid, too.

Check the latest polls, folks. Trump’s act is working. He’s not just betting that America is stupid, he’s proving it. Every time he makes a ridiculous, outrageous, outrageously stupid comment, his polling numbers go up. Why would a smart guy like Donald Trump stop making stupid comments? Making stupid comments is good for him!

I know, I know... I sound like an elitist, don’t I? Insinuating that the American people are stupid? Suggesting a presidential candidate is playing us all for fools? But remember, folks — I’m not the guy with the Ivy League degree. I’m not the guy flying on private jets, with a net worth of $4 billion. I’m not the guy making deliberately false, racist, misleading statements, assuming you’re stupid enough to fall for them. Donald Trump is that guy.

No, I don't think Trump thinks Americans are stupid. I believe he thinks Americans are hateful, so he uses that to plant more seeds of hate and divisiveness. He may be right, at least with respect to some of us. How else could one explain his many supporters who are blindly following him without regard to his hatred towards Muslims, women, LGBTQ, physically challenged, members of the military, etc.?

Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire politician with more money than Trump (which seems to be Trump's main claim to fame), said he knows a con when he sees it. And indeed, Trump is playing US voters like a classic con artist. Just like Trump swindled millions out of investors for his many failed building projects, and bankrupt businesses.

Some Trump Vodka before your Trump Steak, perhaps? During your (very extended) break from Trump University? While staying at one of the Trump Casino hotels? Oh please, be my guest, that was likely the last chance you'll ever get at doing any of those.

But hey, here's the self-declared genius who wants to use his unmatched business skills to run this country. I don't know if the US can handle multiple bankruptcies, or walking away from multiple real estate projects, leaving investors, contractors, and workers holding the bag. While the Donald salvages bags of money he hauls to the bank and declares he's a billionaire, and a genius.

Yep, the greatest genius since PT Barnum. Con artists are cut from the same cloth, and Bloomberg got it right.

Wrong idiot, the only stupidity is that of Hillary supporters. If any of you brain dead, ultra leftist morons had a credible clue about this corrupt cunts history and her quest for power and the countless crimes committed by this incompetent, pathological liar along with her serial rapist husband, you guys wouldn't be supporting the Wicked Witch of Wall Street. If the FBI and the Congress would just drop the email nonsense and investigate the highly powerful organized crime ring known as the Clinton Foundation than there would be countless valid evidence to bring the scum of the earth Clintons down and send the hapless Hillary ho and all her minions to federal prison for the rest of their lives. But you stupid, semiliterate fools don't give a rats ass about the future of this great country. All you are interested in is electing this bumbling bitch President when she is clearly the most unqualified and untrustworthy of the candidates just because she is a woman. That is irresponsible and very stupid on your part. Donald Trump is an innocent Saint when compared to Hillary Clinton. If only you mindless morons knew the real truth about Hillary rather than being blind sycophants to this evil, dishonest, old woman.

Donald Trump, after hearing speeches at the Democratic convention this week, said Thursday he wanted to "hit a number of those speakers so hard, their heads would spin."

"I was going to hit one guy in particular, a very little guy," Trump said to laughs at a campaign rally in Davenport, Iowa. "I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin, he wouldn't know what the hell happened."

Wrong idiot, the only stupidity is that of Hillary supporters. If any of you brain dead, ultra leftist morons had a credible clue about this corrupt cunts history and her quest for power and the countless crimes committed by this incompetent, pathological liar along with her serial rapist husband, you guys wouldn't be supporting the Wicked Witch of Wall Street. If the FBI and the Congress would just drop the email nonsense and investigate the highly powerful organized crime ring known as the Clinton Foundation than there would be countless valid evidence to bring the scum of the earth Clintons down and send the hapless Hillary ho and all her minions to federal prison for the rest of their lives. But you stupid, semiliterate fools don't give a rats ass about the future of this great country. All you are interested in is electing this bumbling bitch President when she is clearly the most unqualified and untrustworthy of the candidates just because she is a woman. That is irresponsible and very stupid on your part. Donald Trump is an innocent Saint when compared to Hillary Clinton. If only you mindless morons knew the real truth about Hillary rather than being blind sycophants to this evil, dishonest, old woman.

Wrong idiot, the only stupidity is that of Hillary supporters. If any of you brain dead, ultra leftist morons had a credible clue about this corrupt cunts history and her quest for power and the countless crimes committed by this incompetent, pathological liar along with her serial rapist husband, you guys wouldn't be supporting the Wicked Witch of Wall Street. If the FBI and the Congress would just drop the email nonsense and investigate the highly powerful organized crime ring known as the Clinton Foundation than there would be countless valid evidence to bring the scum of the earth Clintons down and send the hapless Hillary ho and all her minions to federal prison for the rest of their lives. But you stupid, semiliterate fools don't give a rats ass about the future of this great country. All you are interested in is electing this bumbling bitch President when she is clearly the most unqualified and untrustworthy of the candidates just because she is a woman. That is irresponsible and very stupid on your part. Donald Trump is an innocent Sainyt when compared to Hillary Clinton. If only you mindless morons knew the real truth about Hillary rather than being blind sycophants to this evil, dishonest, old woman.

And not forgetting Exhibit C.

Why don't you just mind your own damn business. Just because this is a public forum does not give you any legitimate right to stick your nose into American political discussion. So stay out of our politics, that is a lawful order.